Go With What You Know, Over and Over and Over

The good thing about ESPN is that it’s always there. The bad thing about ESPN is that it’s always there but only deals in a limited number of subjects.

That means repetition, whether there’s something to say or not, and rarely has it been more true than with Manny Ramirez. Nothing is happening with Ramirez, nothing at all, and of all the places that Ramirez isn’t happening, it’s not happening with more frequency in San Francisco than nearly anywhere else.

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He doesn’t know any more than we do.

But Lord love ’em, the ESPNsters keep trotting him out, asking the question again and again, “Where is Manny going?” and they keep listing San Francisco as an option, even though the Giants have been pretty clear that their offer is going to be a lot shorter and a lot cheaper than Ramirez wants.Like three years shorter $85 million cheaper.

So why do they keep asking? Because the Giants need a power hitting corner outfielder, three things Ramirez happens to be. Because the Giants have experience with talented but nettlesome power-hitting corner outfielders — yeah, that Fred Lewis has been a spectacular irritant.

But mostly they ask because they have only so many ideas and oodles of time, and it isn’t because they’re stupid. It’s because NOTHING IS HAPPENING.

See, the Ramirez story isn’t going anywhere right now because teams are trying to figure out how bad this year is going to be, revenue-wise, and Manny is a luxury item, pure and simple. Only the Yankees, who reflexively spend like drug barons because they know no other way to do business, can ignore such forces — except in case they need to lay off 60 people in the office or something (see the NFL for an example of a megacorp that smokes low-level workers for no earthly financial reason).

But in sports reportage like everything else, nature abhors a vacuum. It’s like they say, “Yes, we know he’s not going to be a Giant unless something extraordinary happens, but we’re going to keep asking because we know better than to ask about the Royals or Pirates. Besides, we need a Manny segment.”

Well, actually they don’t, because when sometimes when there’s no news, it’s because there’s no news. Silence isn’t evidence of shirking all the time . . . sometimes it’s evidence of silence. And silence in the 24/7/365 world of which TV is but a piece is simply inconceivable.

Not that this necessarily makes ESPN evil — it just means that going to the same well over and over again when nothing is happening is what leads to fiascos like the Brett Favre story: “He hasn’t signed today because he’s in a duck blind, chest-deep in cold water. And we’ll be back with an update in 20 minutes. Over to you, Ned.”

And Ned says, “Now for for more on that, here’s . . .” And that’s when you scream, throw your cat at the set, and then black out, happy for the peace and quiet.

And as for Manny? Not a Giant again today. But we’ll be back with an update in 20 minutes. There’s a rumor out of Cleveland that he’s having lunch somewhere.